Friday, 30 September 2011

158. Whitworth, Moss Lane East

The Whitworth was an old boozer we'd been looking forward to visiting after about a decade. Situated opposite Whitworth Park and at the very start of the Curry Mile, this was a popular match day pub where drinkers could chose between the traditional interior or standing outside on the pavement. Sadly, the pub has had a refurb which has ripped out the character it once had, and the once well-kept range of Marstons's beers have been replaced by a couple of lacklustre and badly served cask ales. The pint one of us ordered was so cold it came out with bubbles on the glass and to compound the problem, was also unsparkled. A fall-back of Newcy Brown was swiftly requested for supping on the admittedly excellent rear terrace.

For a Saturday night this place was almost empty and compared to the price and quality of drinks nearby at the Ford Madox Brown or Albert, it's plain to see why. Unfortunately, the Whitworth may not not survive without a rethink. With the ubiquitous students, the Curry Mile still drawing in diners, plus the closure of the Clarence, there is room for a decent pre-curry boozer here, but in its current state it won't attract too many casual visitors back. UPDATE: As we hated to predict, as of 2012 the Whitworth has gone, and has been converted into a coffee shop, the Anchor Coffee House.

3 comments:

The Whitworth was my local as a student (1979-82 – mostly around 1981/2). I have very fond memories of the old Whitworth – from nearly having a fight over a misunderstanding with four large Sikhs (but then sorting it out and drinking with them for the rest of the evening), to a man offering to sell me a gun (not for real, I think), to finding out what happens when you have four quick pints after a student dinner of spag. bog. and left-over Christmas pudding. I could go on…

The bar was exactly 100 paces from my bed. The pub dog – Muttley – used to follow us home at closing time for a share of the inevitable sausages, but once ran off for three days after someone put my mate’s Brentford scarf on him. The scarf was never found…

Ahhhh, The Whitworth; My local back in the early 90s and a pub I have many fond memories of. It served Burton Best Bitter, Pedigree and a guest from time to time, the beer was always good and the company fantastic! It was refurbished in 1992 and opened up at the same time losing a little of the character but none of the good atmosphere. I shed a tear or two when it closed, but I was not surprised. New pubs have come along in the last few years and have taken away the trade on which The Whitworth depended - back in the day competition came only from The Denmark, The Clarence, The Albert or Osborne House and maybe The Grafton so the old place stood a chance. Rusholme and Student land have changed a lot over the years but sadly The Whitworth never kept up.

Why do some pub chains (and managers) seem tho think that changing good elements of a pub will improve things? I, too, remember the Whitty with fondness (as a student from 1981-84), and even in the following years it was usually packed, and served a great pint. It was always a successful student pub. I went back (obviously just before it closed), and it was desperately sad. All character had gone, it had undergone a terrible makeover, and it was almost empty! No wonder it closed!